A Man, A Jeep, No Real Plan

Amazing Stories and Adventures

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Kansas, more adventures than expected.

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My travels have brought me to Kansas friends. Kansas is not a state that you expect much excitement from, but then again the journey is always interesting if I’m on it.

Salina was our first stop. I won’t lie, I did not do much outside of work, but work did keep me on my toes. Between the Holiday and the blizzard the local was unable to fill our call. What that means is that we had 8 less local hands than what we requested. My crew handled it with all the grace and professionalism that I could hope for. There was the initial “well f#%k” but they quickly adapted and started sharing. Riggers jumped in to help props, Carpenters jumped in to help electricians and we managed to load the show in in 6.5 hours. I know they think I am just saying it because I have to, but I am genuinely proud of this team.

The other different thing I did in this city is that I chose to separate my office from the rest of the road staff in this city. I did it for a lot of reasons. I wanted to be close to the stage because of the labor issue, but honestly I did it for some space as well. I love working with the rest of the staff, but I needed some me time to crank the tunes, knock things off my list without distractions, and to just be me for a few days.

Our next stop was Wichita. We arrived in the wee hours of Thursday morning and checked into the hotel. I was lazy most of the day, but Thursday night I decided to live a little. My partners in crime (the bus drivers) and I found this kick ass bar called Barleycorn’s and had a few beverages and then headed to the main event for the evening.

We went to a Lindsey Stirling concert. None of us realized it was her holiday tour. We all thought she was still touring with Everessence. That being said we were not disappointed. Lindsey is a showman and she knows exactly how to engage an audience. It was an hour and a half long geek out that I will not soon forget. I mean honestly I can remember when she was still doing the comic-con circuit. I have not had the opportunity to see her perform live since the days when she dressed up like a video game character and played the tunes of my beloved video games live.

After the concert I parted ways with the bus drivers and headed back to Barleycorn’s. I was not fully prepared for the adventure that ensued. I ended up meeting a social worker and a property manager who decided that I needed to see all the bars that Wichita had to offer. I can not tell you the names of any of the establishments I visited, but there were more than a few. The conversations included stories from the road, a critique of EDM, and one weird tangent on beanie babies.

Friday I awoke feeling every last ounce of alcohol I had consumed the night before. I spent the daylight hours struggling to be an adult and answering work emails.

So of course I went back to Barleycorn’s that evening. It was Salsa Night and no I didn’t dance, but the energy in the room was palpable. A good time was definitely had by all.

Saturday morning I contemplated quitting drinking for good. I am not a college kid anymore and drinking double digits two nights in a row is not something I should even consider these days… Thank god for V8 juice and aspirin.

After surviving my two day long recovery period we moved to Tulsa, OK. We had a bit of a rough start during load in, the stage was in the wrong location… but we were able to fix it and the rest of the load in went smoothly… That being said I definitely spent the rest of the day watching everything like a hawk.

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Escape from Florida

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Florida is not the worst state in the country, but one can only handle the perpetual warm weather and daily rainstorms for so long. 112 days were more than enough for me. The last time I wrote was Miami, sense then I have been to Jacksonville, Pensacola, Orlando, Duluth Georgia, Atlanta Georgia, Birmingham Alabama, Huntsville Alabama, and am currently sitting on the bus on a day stop in St. Louis Missouri. Upon arrival in GA I stepped off the bus and felt something I’ve not felt since I was in the mountains on my road trip. It was cold; I could see my breath and feel the grass crinkle under my feet as I walked. After months or seemingly eternal summer I felt a tinge of being home in Indiana.

My final weeks in Florida were not bad by any means. I visited The Moran Theatre in Jacksonville and went on a scavenger hunt of old wall tags. I have played this theatre at least times before.

One of the best parts about touring over and over again is walking into a venue and knowing that you’ve been there before. You know the lay of the land, the names of some of your locals, and the entire stay is like catching up with old friends you haven’t seen in years.

Halloween was celebrated in Pensacola. A few of my tour-mates knew the individual who was hosting a party at the Pensacola Opera. We arrive about a half hour late, and if I said we brought the party, I would not be lying. It was a night of drinking, dancing, and having lots and lots of people lifting my kilt to see if I was wearing it “properly”, they were not disappointed.

The above view was the last thing I saw in Florida. As I was walking to the bus to make a mad dash for the border and the Florida skies decided to give me a suitable goodbye.

Duluth was fairly uneventful, but I had some visitors in Atlanta. Caitlyn and Grant came down to Atlanta. I am not going to lie, I was more than a little nervous about sharing a hotel room with a toddler, but by the end of the stay I think Caitlyn was the only one pondering the wisdom of allow Grant and I to team up for a few days. We spent time crawling around tunnels at the Georgia Aquarium, which was a serious overload for both Grant and I. I think we may have stressed Caitlyn out a bit with our antics as well. The heated pool was another winner with all parties concerned, although that may have to do with the fact that it was warmer than some hot tubs I’ve been in. We also spent time venturing out to meet up with friends I have in the area. I don’t think any of the waiters are going to forget Grant’s accuracy with a chicken nugget any time soon. Over all it was a fantastic visit!

After Atlanta my tour headed to Birmingham, Alabama for a 4am load in with a 2pm show. My Phone failed to do the time change so I walked into the venue at 2:15 thinking it was 3:15… Add in a local smashing their hand on the trucks and a serious catering snafu… It was a rough day to say the least, but the crew killed it. Loaded in in under 6 hours and out in 2.5 hours. That’s a far cry better than the 10+ hour load ins and 5+ hour load outs we had a month ago. We also put up our first wall tag. That’ll be my 4th in Birmingham, unfortunately I didn’t get photos of the rest of them.

We stuck around Birmingham for a few extra days to celebrate Thanksgiving. So we had a massive company meal at Texas de Brazil. No big surprise I ended up on the end of the table with the rest of the old men. 😉

My latest stop was Huntsville, Alabama. Not a whole lot of excitement here, but we did manage to put up another tag (bringing my total to 3 in this venue). As I am going around finding the wall tags a little bit of me is wondering if anyone has ever tried to catalogue the works of art that tours leave behind as they travel the country. I’m going to ponder this one a bit more, but It could be an interesting project.

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On Tour again.

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It has been a long time since I last posted, but I haven’t been nearly as mobile as I’d like. There are a lot of reasons for this… but the biggest one is simple.

I spent 84 days in Palmetto, FL in this building. FES is an amazing complex of shops, offices, and rehearsal spaces. It literally houses every phase from concept to test audiences for the largest privately owned entertainment company in the world. While I was in the building we had several projects through.

Everything from decade old shows that needed a little love and a refurb period, to new projects like Trolls The Experience, Disney On Ice: Mickey’s Search Party and of course Sesame Street Live! Make Your Magic. All of this magic is conceived, built and cared for out of this facility. Which means a large majority of what I was seeing on a daily basis is proprietary and not stuff I can tell you about.

The show that I spent the most time with other than my own was Disney On Ice: Mickey’s Search Party. I wasn’t directly involved with it, but I did have my desk in their rehearsal space for almost a month. This show is amazing. They have aerial routines, tumbling, pyro, hover boards, Disney Characters, and of course amazing ice skating. Once it was open I went to Orlando for their opening and managed to capture just a bit of the magic from my seat.

Of course I didn’t spend all of my time in the studio. I also spent 84 nights at the same hotel. I often would set up camp by the pool and do paperwork.

I also spent quite a few nights hanging out with fellow Feld employees by this very pool.

I think one of the best parts about the hotel was Greta. Greta was one of the nigh-time desk staff and she was the gatekeeper to all of the shenanigans that happened in the hotel. Thank god she was more amused by our antics than she was the children’s sports teams that came through. There was the baseball tournament where the kids dented cars in the parking lot with a football. There was the hockey kids who set up hockey goals in the hallways and played at all hours of the night, the figure skaters squealing as the run up and down the hallway… and of course the drunk parents who came along with all of these groups.

Greta was more of a Dorm Mom than anything else. I saw her chase down kids in the parking lot, confiscate sporting equipment, catch shop lifting kids, scold parents for not watching their kids, and negotiate disorderly drunks to bed. All of this while my merry band sat by the pool cheering for her and heckling those foolish enough to cross Greta. I really wish I had a picture of Greta, next year when I return to Palmetto I am going to have to get one.

Another reason Greta got serious bonus points in my book is because she bothered to get to know us. She knew what shows we all worked on, who had kids, who liked whiskey, who liked wine, who had significant others at home, and most impressively the significant others name and how long till they came to visit. Greta literally had a countdown for me starting at 10 days till Caitlyn came to visit.

That was the other highlight of Palmetto, Caitlyn took a few days off work and came down. It was her first time being around my road family. I had to work almost everyday she was here, so I really wasn’t much good for company, but she got to meet my cast, crew, and staff. I think she started to understand how crazy my life is.

Well friends, after 84 days I moved to Tampa, FL. Our first load in was a bit rough, but we got moved in, set up and opened a show.

Opening night, means an opening night party. So of course Caitlyn came down. She spent most of her visit focused on pool side reading this time around. However when opening night happened not only did she put on a beautiful dress, but she sat through Sesame Street Live! Make Your Magic! That’s right, she witnessed the toddler mosh pit and still wanted to go to the hot mess that is an opening night party. I think it is safe to say that she has now fully seen me in my element.

After Tampa we moved to Lakeland, FL for a few days and yesterday we had a one day stop in St. Petersburg.

One day stops are the worst. On a one day stop we start at 4am and then 17 hours later we walk out again. It makes for a very long day and I may have made an error in judgment that resulted in my arm getting smashed in a crate door. The good news is that nothing is broken, the bad news is that my arm was numb and pretty useless for the 2nd half of the day… That being said, things came together beautifully. We made a 1pm meet and greet, had 2 shows, and then loaded out in under 4 hours. For a 3rd stop on a tour, that is freaking impressive. I am legit proud of the crew and how they have come together to achieve this!

So now I am on a bus headed towards Miami. Expect there to be adventures, and expect to hear from me more often now that my show is open. Until next time my friends!